Ghosts, sorrow and God are all major themes in Tom Delonge of Blink-182’s first movie as a director, Monsters of California. It is about Dallas, a teenager who finds some research left by his father who has been missing presumed dead. He then convinces two other buddies and a girl he met at a coffee shop to assist him find out the truth behind his dad’s disappearance. Military tries unsuccessfully to chase them when this group meets different forms of paranormal activities on their way.
There is something irresistible about oddball kids who hunt ghosts together but it is not all fun and games here. Before long, it begins to feel less like science fiction movie that you are watching and more like you are trapped in the corner of family reunion listening to your weird cousin drone on about extraterrestrials. Here we have an unfocused, baggy pace and shape.
Yet there is still stuff here that does work, depending upon where you stand in terms of whether or not you believe that aliens from outer space exist.
The movie’s greatest virtue lies in its exploration of how people turn to religion or other forms of spirituality after experiencing loss. While Dallas’ mother turned towards Christianity; her son went undercover into the supernatural world. The previous evening at dinner she asked him to say grace before they eat by taking hands with her and the rest of his siblings but instead he told them about how he had had seen a ghost for the first time ever a night before with his friends.
Not surprisingly, conflict arises from this point onwards making clear that the real problem between them boils down to each one thinks wrong about Dallas’ father’s death handling by the other person. The mysterious vanishing prompts both search for an answer whilst each also assumes that the other avoids allowing this traumatic incident sink in them.
This ties into another constant theme throughout the film which posits we create our reality. In voiceover Dallas talks to us about how in quantum physics objects do not exist unless there is someone observing them, sort of like if a tree falls in the woods but no one hears it. Furthermore, Richard Kind’s character tells the group, “We have to use our weapons: free will, morality, consciousness.” Moreover, this explains the movie’s view on alien life and what it means as an overall argument. In summary though, all these things seem to point out that we should be reliant on our community when we are in need because whatever we focus our minds upon becomes real.
There are both positives and negatives when it comes to casting. In the lead role as Dallas, we have Jack Samson, who does well enough with the material; however, why would an ordinary teenager have a huge tattoo on his neck? Yet such a small discrepancy in his appearance can reduce immersion in viewers. Moreover, as is evident in Samson’s real life photos, the actor actually has no such tattoo on him. This therefore was a deliberate choice.
On the other hand, the three boys, Dallas, Riley and Toe are played by Samson along with Jared Scott and Jack Lancaster respectively. These actors interact pretty well together. Their body language is often exaggerated and hilarious within their world and ours too. With them constantly bickering and play fighting each other show how long they’ve been friends more than words could ever describe it–it shows that they have known each other for what seems like centuries.
However the best performance comes from Richard Kind as Dr. Walker- Dallas’ father’s former boss. Primarily recognized for his comedic roles of 90s sitcoms series actor Kind had been until recently associated with TV comedy including The Goldbergs or Curb Your Enthusiasm yet here he exercises restraint instead . He has got some energy to him—Kind doesn’t lean into being an over-the-top conspiracy theorist stereotype but rather creates something all his own. By restraining himself even more he manages to create almost eerie atmosphere thus building more suspense than if he were directed down campy path.
What really fails Where Monsters of California are its female characters.It consists of three women’s characters: mother sibling girlfriend.Mother named Leah tries to marry their new husband because she loves God which angers her son Dalls.On the opposite side is Meg, Dalllas’ sister who has nothing going on at all.Her function appears just to be against everything Dallas stands for and be normal sibling while this movie would not be any different without her.
However, the love interest, Kelly’s role is given more screen time although she has little to do in her few scenes. He lost his dad and she is losing hers to illness – that’s enough for him to bring along. After that, Kelly is mostly scared on behalf of Dallas or scared for herself so he protects her. The characterization of this lady was so flat it didn’t even get as far as being a manic pixie dream girl.
The rest of the friends are given some kind of personality traits, even if it’s just about always getting high, then you know the writers had the ability to add depth to these characters. Out of all three men who worked on the screenplay none thought about putting some more effort into any of these women. If only Kelly were under different leadership, she could have been as enjoyable as those boys; however, instead she became only a prop with hardly any effect on story line.
Beside these character-based issues, MOC sinks because it beats you on the head with its message. We learn that ‘the government’ knew about aliens but kept quiet to make sure that human beings would not be scared. It is also mentioned by characters in the movie that there is a need for us to have an open mind since we are surrounded by extraterrestrial and supernatural things if we want to see them. If one were sleeping from the beginning of this film, they would not know that notwithstanding the science fiction tag line, the authors are giving real life tips.
It is not difficult to find out Delonge is a huge fan of aliens from years back. The article was published in Guardian.com (which had a strict no-aliens clause) where he told an interviewer who responded, “That’s basically all I’ve done outside of music and raising my family.” Obviously, it’s something he takes seriously. Also later in this conversation, he says “Things were written in text thousands of years ago like hearing voices in your head or a burning bush that was talking.The ancient texts may have called it God, but I’m just saying it’s not that simple,” repeating almost word-for-word what appears in Monsters of California.
Surely filmmakers’ personal experiences and opinions will find their way into their work so it is okay for Delonge to be alien preacher; however, how he has presented those ideas creates concern. The lack of effort in adapting these thoughts into works of fiction can be seen when character lines echo what Delonge himself has already said during interviews. This is a very poorly made movie and the end result clearly shows this fact. Instead of being an enjoyable alien-themed adventure story wrapped around conspiracy theories and sprinkled with misogyny.
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